….Prof. BURNHAM: This case, from now 46 years ago, came back to public attention when the Justice Department in 2007 pursued a criminal case against one of the Klansmen. In the course of that investigation, one of the members of the Klan group who had committed the murder came forward with the full story. He made clear that the local sheriff and his deputy were in some way involved in the events that led to the killing of Dee and Moore on May 2nd.
We don’t allege that the sheriff himself was present at the time the young men were either tortured or thrown into the river. But we do allege that he had sufficient information so that he could have, but did not, intervene on the day in question.
NORRIS: Let me ask you about the criminal case. Back in 2007, James Ford Seale, a Klansman and former police officer, was arrested in connection with the Dee and Moore murder. How did this story, long buried, come roaring back because Seale and his brother, who was also allegedly connected to this crime, were both presumed around the state of Mississippi to have been dead.
Ms. BURNHAM: James Ford Seale himself passed on the rumor that he was dead, and as a result of that, there was no ongoing investigation until one of the family members of one of the victims decided to take it upon himself to go back down to Mississippi to Franklin County and to see what he could find out.
He then approached the U.S. attorney and asked the U.S. attorney to reopen the matter.
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